Speaking to Diwaniya Media at the Women & the Economy conference, Mark Maxwell discussed supporting Lei Wa Lakom, exploring AI in construction and why young professionals still need to master the details of their work.
For Mark Maxwell, the conversation about artificial intelligence comes back to the person using it. As his company considers how to integrate the technology into its work, the Kuwait-based interior architecture and project management professional believes the starting point remains education, experience and a thorough understanding of the job.
Speaking to Diwaniya Media at the Women & the Economy conference, Maxwell connected those priorities with his company’s support for Lei Wa Lakom. He described an interest in contributing to women’s economic empowerment while engaging with a question affecting businesses across sectors: how can new technology help people develop their capabilities?
His advice to someone entering his profession was direct. “Learn well. Study well,” he said, before stressing the importance of understanding the challenges around them and learning from experienced practitioners.
From construction projects to the AI conversation
Maxwell described a business working across construction and fit-outs, with projects spanning residential and commercial buildings, banks and stores in Kuwait’s shopping malls. That range formed the background to his comments about the company’s next stage.
“We hope that we will integrate it with AI,” he said, describing the technology as an area the business was looking to explore.
His comments outlined an intention rather than the launch of a particular system. He did not identify a software platform, implementation timetable or completed AI project. The emphasis was on how an established construction and fit-out business might approach technological change while continuing to contribute to Kuwait’s economy.
That distinction matters in a discussion often dominated by predictions. Maxwell’s account was about a company considering its next steps and the skills people would need alongside them. His interest in AI sat within that broader professional outlook, rather than replacing it.
Why support a conversation about women and the economy?
Asked about supporting Lei Wa Lakom through the event, Maxwell said the team had welcomed the programme’s underlying idea from the outset. He described the subject as particularly relevant to the changes businesses and workers were experiencing.
“We are trying to give a value and to add something to this topic,” he said, explaining the desire to contribute to women’s economic empowerment.
The Women & the Economy conference programme brought that discussion into several areas of working life. Alongside leadership and economic participation, it included artificial intelligence, financial technology and practical financial knowledge, with further conversations involving young people and university students.
For Maxwell, the technology and empowerment discussions were connected. He spoke about using AI to help and “serve the humanity”, expressing a preference for applications that support people’s work and capabilities.
His explanation positioned the company’s involvement around the subject of the conference itself: how people can participate in, and contribute to, a changing economy.
A changing job still needs human judgement
That question extends well beyond a single business. The International Labour Organization’s 2025 assessment of generative AI and jobs estimated that one in four workers worldwide was in an occupation with some degree of exposure to the technology.
The finding concerns tasks that technology could affect, rather than a prediction that a quarter of jobs will disappear. Because most occupations still involve tasks requiring human input, the research identified job transformation as the more likely outcome.
It provides useful context for Maxwell’s emphasis on learning. Adopting a tool and understanding a profession are different parts of preparation for work. His advice placed particular weight on the latter: study carefully, understand the surrounding challenges and pay attention to the expertise of others.
He also urged newcomers to get into the small details of their work. Coming after his description of construction and fit-out projects, the point gave his comments on AI a practical foundation. Technology was something to use within a professional discipline whose details still needed to be understood.
Advice for the next generation
When the interview turned to someone just starting a career, Maxwell did not recommend a particular application or qualification. He returned to the habits of learning and developing an independent approach.
That emphasis also fitted the conference’s attention to younger audiences. Its published programme included a university conversation about jobs, AI, money and the decisions that would shape students’ next decade, bringing the wider economic discussion down to choices people would make in their own lives.
Maxwell’s closing advice offered his own response to that question. Build the foundations of your work, understand it closely and then decide how technology can assist.
“Make your structure by yourself and use the tools to help you,” he said.
